Have you thought about it lately? It’s not weekend PaintBall and year-end bonuses.

The thing about company culture is that it doesn’t happen by stating you have one. The culture we belong to has to do with our tribe, and by that I mean our close friends, people we work with and those who would be there at 2am in an emergency. Our personal background and history is in the mix as well, along with the way we were raised.

I’ve heard it said a time or two in my own career, when the screws were being tightened, “it’s nothing personal, just a business decision.” Events that affect individual lives are never just a business decision. Who we are in the office is who we are.

In the same way that who we are as individuals takes a while to shake out—and actually changes over time—the same is true of business. Do you trust your boss, like your workmates, leave for work with a smile and hope to stay there for a while? If so, your company earned that over the years you worked there.

Or…

…do you watch the clock, hungering for it to be the end of the day, drop everything at quitting time and bolt for the door, as well as pry yourself out of bed on a Monday morning? It may say “We Appreciate What You Do” over the door, but it’s one thing to write on the wall and another to hold in your mind.

You won’t be there for long and neither will the person who replaces you.

If you’re an owner or a CEO, what your company stands for is best understood when you take some time to look at the rates of turnover.